William Ming Liu

Using Social Class in Counseling Psychology Research.

Social class is an important cultural construct, but it is poorly used in research. Problems in using social class may be associated with its poor definition in previous studies; conflating between social class and socioeconomic status; using objective indices such as income, education, and occupati

Conformity to masculine norms, Asian values, coping strategies, peer group influences and substance use among Asian American men.

This study explores the relationship between Asian values (AVS-R; Kim & Hong, 2004), Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI; Mahalik et al., 2003), Peer Substance Use, Coping Styles (Carver, 1997), and Substance Use among 154 Asian American college men. Results showed 47.9% reported consuming alcohol; 27% reported binge drinking; 8% used illicit drugs; 18% reported marijuana use; and 3% indicated cocaine use in the 30 days prior to completing the survey. Peer drug use was significant and the most robust predictor of substance use in all of the regression analyses. Logistic regression analysis suggests CMNI subscales of Winning, Disdain for Homosexuality, Playboy, and Violence predicted marijuana use; Power Over Women predicted binge drinking. The multiple regression analysis revealed that Emotional Control and Risk Taking significantly predicted alcohol. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Client Perspectives of Multicultural Counseling Competence A Qualitative Examination

Multicultural competence is a burgeoning area of research in counseling psychology. However, there has been little focus on understanding multicultural competence from the perspective of clients. This study used qualitative interviews and grounded theory to develop a model of clients’ perspectives of multicultural counseling. The resulting model suggested that clients’ experiences of multicultural counseling were contingent on their self-identified needs and on how well they felt the counselor met these needs. Moreover, clients appeared to actively manage and moderate the extent to which culture was broached in counseling based on a host of conditions including counseling relationship, salience of identity, counselor behavior, and expectations of counseling, to name a few. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Islam 101: Understanding the Religion and Therapy Implications

How familiar are you with the religion and cultural aspects of Islam and with Muslim clients? As a psychologist, you likely will work with a Muslim client, given the growing number of Muslims in America. Yet very little psychological research or literature discusses Muslim clients or their experiences. This article provides some foundational information psychologists will need to work effectively with Muslim clients. An overview of the Muslim American community, including cultural values, gender role expectations, behavioral prescriptions, and immigration issues relevant in counseling and therapy, is provided. A case example illustrates how clinicians can effectively incorporate cultural aspects of Islam in their work in order to be culturally competent when working with Muslim clients.

The impact of racial identity, ethnic identity, asian values and race-related stress on Asian Americans and Asian international college students' psychological well-being

The current study investigated the direct and moderating effects of racial identity, ethnic identity, Asian values, and race-related stress on positive psychological well-being among 402 Asian American and Asian international college students. Results revealed that the racial identity statuses Internalization, Immersion-Emersion, Dissonance, Asian values and Ethnic Identity Affirmation and Belonging were significant predictors of well-being. Asian values, Dissonance and Conformity were found to moderate the relationship between race-related stress on well-being. Specifically, individuals in low race-related stress conditions who had low Asian values, high Conformity and low Dissonance attitudes started high on well being but decreased as race-related stress increased. These findings underscore the importance of how racial identity statuses, Asian values and ethnic identity jointly and uniquely explain and moderate the effects of race-related stress on positive well-being. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Addressing Social Class and Classism in Vocational Theory and Practice Extending the Emancipatory Communitarian Approach

The emancipatory communitarian approach to vocational development is congruent with previous calls to counseling psychologists to be oriented to social justice in their research and practice. However, even in the current emancipatory communitarian approach, an implicit upward mobility bias favors some vocations. To help understand how to better apply the emancipatory communitarian approach, a social class and classism framework is incorporated to explore how upward mobility bias distorts and ignores negative aspects of higher status and higher prestige jobs and does not recognize potential positive aspects of lower status and working-class jobs.

First‐Generation Student Veterans: Implications of Poverty for Psychotherapy

Student veterans are arriving at university and college campuses and many counselors may not be prepared. Multiple and intersecting identities complicate the students integration and matriculation into higher education. We review literature on first-generation college students and issues pertinent to student veterans. Using the revised Social Class Worldview Model, this article offers a case example to illustrate how counselors may best work with student veterans.

An exploratory model of substance use among Asian American women: the role of depression, coping, peer use and asian values

This study explored the relationship among Asian values, depressive symptoms, perceived peer substance use, coping strategies, and substance use among 167 Asian American college women. More than 66% of the women in our sample scored higher than the clinical cutoff score on the Center of Epidemiological Depression Scale. Three path analyses examining illicit drugs, alcohol use, and binge drinking indicated that perceived peer use was the most robust predictor of substance use. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with illicit drug use and alcohol consumption but were not related to binge drinking. Asian values and coping strategies were not predictive of substance use. Additional analysis revealed that avoidant coping was a strong predictor of depressive symptoms.

White male power and privilege: The relationship between White supremacy and social class.

Counseling psychologists have studied privilege as an individual behavior, belief, and attitude related to an individual’s privileged identity such as masculinity, Whiteness, or Christianity. Conceptualizing individual privileged identities in this way means that privileged identities may exist alongside marginalized intersectional identities. However, in this article, the author defines privilege as a multi-identity act that is facilitated and supported by institutions and organizations (e.g., banks, law enforcement, and schools). These institutions are defined as power-governors that regulate access to scaffolds of privilege afforded to the affluent and wealthy. The author posits that power-governors were created to support an ideology of White supremacy and to organize actors within the system to perpetuate and legitimize the status quo. The author describes the ways in which White wealthy men use privilege as a means to access and gain power while White men in lower- and working-classes use privilege to build relationships and legitimize inequality. The author also discusses the proxy privilege of White women and people of color and how this privilege is in fact restricted to specific physical spaces and is limited due to their overt marginalized identities. Recommendations for privilege research are provided.

Perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood among men experiencing homelessness.

This study explored the perceptions of fatherhood held by 11 men living in a homeless shelter. Using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR; Hill, 2012), we investigated perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood among fathers experiencing homelessness. Participants described (a) their perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood and changes resulting from homelessness, (b) physical and psychological challenges of being a father experiencing homelessness, and (c) expectations of homeless fathers. The fathers generally expressed feelings of low self-esteem related to their perceived difficulty fulfilling the role of providers for their family; however, they also adapted their view of fatherhood to include roles suited to their situation, such as that of guide, teacher, and role model. Suggestions are made for clinicians in helping fathers navigate and develop these roles, and limitations and directions for future research are discussed.